Houseparty

Sitting down with your child and exploring their favourite app or game is a great way for you to learn more about what they like to do online.

You can ask them why they like to use an app or play certain games, as well as who they’re talking to and what sorts of things they’re sharing.

You can also read our Net Aware reviews for tips on how to keep kids safe on popular apps, sites and games.

Help your child think about what they share online and who sees it. Compare it to what they would be happy to share offline.

Use examples that are easy for them to understand: “You shouldn't give your number to somebody you don't know on the street. Is somebody online you don't know any different?”

Listen to their answers. And be positive and encouraging.

Remind them that they shouldn’t share private things, such as:

• personal information, like names, emails, phone numbers, location and school names
• other people's personal information
• links to join private group chats
• photos of themselves
• photos of their body, such as sexual photos or videos.

Your child might receive upsetting or inappropriate messages or comments from other users on Houseparty.

If this happens, they can ‘ghost’, report, block or unfriend other users by clicking on the smiley icon and selecting ‘My friends’.

For each friend you can:

• Ghost - stay anonymous from certain people without deleting them. It means they won’t see when you’re online but you can still choose to talk to them
• Report – report someone if they’ve sent something that breaks the community guidelines (these are called the Party Guidelines)
• Block – choose to block someone without them knowing. This means they can't contact you. You can also unblock them if you want
• Unfriend – stop being friends with someone, which means they can no longer contact you. Unlike blocking, you can’t undo this without the other person being notified

Explore these features with your child and talk about when they might want to use it.

And remember to let your child know that they can always talk to you about worrying things they see online.

In settings, make sure ‘Private Mode’ is switched on so your child’s chats are kept private. This should help keep your child’s contacts to people they know.

People you know or people you don’t know might try to add you as a friend on Houseparty and you can choose to ‘accept’ or ‘ignore’ them.

With your child, show them how to ignore friend requests from people they don’t know, even from friends of friends. Remind them video chatting is best kept to people you know, like close friends and family members, as a great way to keep in touch.

People can also use the ‘wave’ icon to say they want to chat. If your child doesn’t know who is waving at them, remind them to block the user.

And be aware, even if ‘Private Mode’ is switched on, people can still search your name and try to add you. In settings, you can change your child’s name and username to something more anonymous so they’re harder to identify in searches.

Explain that you understand the internet is a great place to play, create, learn and connect. But remind them they can talk to you if anything upsets or worries them.

Reassure them that you won’t overreact – you’re just looking out for them.

It’s important to remind your child that they can talk you, another adult they trust, like a teacher, or Childline about anything they see online.